Sumner Redstone, squeezed by a tight credit crunch, may be forced to sell his prized Viacom, home of MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Studios. The cash situation of the 85-year-old Redstone is said to be so dire that selling Viacom or CBS has become a real possibility. Redstone used shares in the companies as collateral for loans used to pay for expansion plans for his privately held National Amusements movie theater chain. As the price of Viacom and CBS shares dipped, the banks are now demanding cash to back the loans.

The financial crisis is raising Madison Avenue's interest in CNBC financial advisor Suze Orman. And her sudden stardom in advertising is raising some eyebrows about possible conflicts of interest. At a time when the public is hungry for help with personal finances, Orman is the best-known personal-finance adviser out there. In addition to her weekly CNBC show, she frequently appears on "Larry King Live," NBC's "Today," CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360°" and "Oprah." The concern is that if she is working as a pitch women for certain financial companies, her once independent and credible advice could become biased …

The recent collapse on Wall Street is limiting the number of election ads from independent political groups. Usually a force in the final weeks of a presidential race, ads from outside groups -- such as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth -- are barely evident this year. It seems wealthy potential donors have shied away because they are too busy dealing with their own financial portfolios. "Most donors lost 20% or 30% of their net worth in eight days," says Phil Musser, Republican fundraising consultant. "That pretty well shut down the money discussion for a lot of folks." …

Sure, radio has been hurt by digital changes, but new research shows radio is now actually gaining audience, despite its nemesis, the iPod. Paragon Research finds the youth demo has increased its time spent listening to radio 11% this year, compared to last, while the group's time spent listening to iPods has decreased 13%. The Radio Advertising Bureau' also reports that radio listeners increased by 3 million in 2008, to 235 million. But radio's two core advertisers -- local automotive and retail -- are being slammed by the financial crisis. The upshot: radio ad revenue slipped 6.5% during …

Broadcasters are raiding network and studio vaults for old favorites they can dust off. For instance, NBC is plotting a modern-day "The Partridge Family," while CBS may revive "Hawaii Five-O" and "The Streets of San Francisco." ABC is looking at a new spin on sci-fi miniseries "V." As network ratings continue to erode, it becomes even tougher for networks to market new shows. A revived show can enter the season with more buzz than a new series, thanks to the built-in interest from fans of the original. "There are so many choices for viewers right now that …

Cable news channel CNBC is airing a new commercial promoting "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer in response to rival Fox Business Network's ads attacking Cramer's credibility in the midst of the financial crisis. It started last week when Fox Business launched an ad campaign criticizing Cramer for some of his investment calls. One spot actually appeared on CNBC after Fox bought slots in local markets from cable operators. To strike back, the new CNBC ad uses the tag "In Cramer We Trust." It draws on a monologue from a recent show in which he weighed in on …

Fox will broadcast a two-hour 'prequel' to the regular season of "24" on Sunday, Nov. 23, scoring this season's highest price for a 30-second spot on a two-hour special. (The regular season of "24," is slated to begin in January.) As of this week, the two-hour program is commanding some of the highest prices for any program on the fall schedule -- between $500,000 and $600,000 for a 30-second ad. In comparison, the costliest ongoing program, NBC's "Sunday Night Football," brings in an average of $434,792, while the next, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," commands $326,685.

Tribune Company has given a two-year notice to The Associated Press that its daily newspapers plan to drop the news service, becoming the first major newspaper chain to do so. Tribune, owner of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and several smaller papers, joins other newspapers that have sought to end their relationship with AP, following AP's plans for a new rate structure next year. The two-year notice is required as part of all AP current contracts, so Tribune will not be cutting wire service content immediately. If Associated Press executives blink, negotiations may result in a …

The remaining "big, groaning media conglomerates" have been ardently wooing investors lately, but it hasn't been easy going. The two best players at the game are News Corp. and Disney. Both have been knocked around by the stock market in the past year, but Disney has emerged the winner. Investors like two things: Among its peers, Disney derives the smallest percentage of revenues from advertising, thanks to the decision in 1997 to sell of its newspaper division. Also, Disney boasts it can take a show or personality and "extrapolate a gazillion revenue streams" by leveraging everything from merchandising …